Negative

Have you ever considered how many ways there are to say "no?"

You can say  "nope, never, no (in spanish, which is just no), uh-uh, negative"
You could simply shake your head. 
And then there are the phrases that, when you get down to it, really mean "no."  "Stop that! Don't do that! Don't touch that! Don't eat that..." need I go on?

Children are inundated with "no," is it any wonder that they learn it very quickly?  Or, in some cases, very slowly....

As Whit embraces the "twos" (I can't bear to call them terrible, because many aspects of them are wonderful) he has learned many ways to tell me "no." His favorites are "uh-uh" and "nope." 

ME: "Whit, we need to take a potty break, do you need to potty?"

WHIT: "Nope!"

I could go on in this vein, but I think you all get the point.

As with all of my other parenting decisions, I am trying to give Whit a start in life that gives him the most potential to be a satisfied, self-sufficient and functional citizen of the world.  With that said, I say "no" very little.  We've created a few things that mean "no" such as "freeze your feet" for "no, don't go any further" and "Not a toy" for "No, don't play with that."  We try to save "no" in it's most basic form for truly dangerous things.  (Whit does not hold that same opinion).

A few of my favorite ways to tell Whit "no":

"Not right now, honey"

"I don't think that's a good idea"

"Maybe later" (I got that one from my mother, thanks Mom!)

"Let's do this instead"


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